| Advisory Opinion request from Angela Washington, an employee of the Louisiana Department of Education, regarding outside employment restrictions. |
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Angela Washington is employed by the Louisiana Department of Education ("LDOE") as an Administrative Program Director 4 over Statewide Monitoring for the Division of Federal Support and Grantee Relations within the LDOE's Office of Operations. In this role, Ms. Washington serves as the Director of Statewide Monitoring, which includes federally funded education programs. Her duties consist of directing the coordination of monitoring oversight of all school districts in Louisiana that accept funding for federal and state education programs and/or competitive or discretionary grants; establishing comprehensive procedures for monitoring education programs in school systems; coordinating updates to and evaluations of the state's system of risk-based monitoring; responding to legislative audit requests relating to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA"), and the Every Student Succeeds Act ("ESSA") federal programs; attending meetings to obtain policy changes to provide monitoring updates; and serving as lead for the provisions of special education and related services for students enrolled at charter schools located within the Orleans Parish jurisdiction.
As the Director of Statewide Monitoring, Ms. Washington does not participate in recruiting services for higher education, grant research and proposal writing, fundraising, content development, or consulting services for private corporations, religious entities, community agencies, and non-profit organizations on education or non-education related topics.
In 2023, Ms. Washington established Jade Business Services, LLC, a company that provides project management and consulting services to private, religious, community, or non-profit organizations. Her company specializes in content development, fundraising, grant research and proposal writing, project management, organizational management, and collegiate recruiting services. Her company does not monitor educational programs and does not endeavor to establish any contracts for services with a public school system, non-public schools, or charter schools in the state of Louisiana. Additionally, her company will not receive compensation from any funding or grant administered or monitored by the LDOE to a private, religious, community, or non-profit organization.
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La. R.S. 42:1111C(1)(a): No public servant shall receive any thing of economic value for any service, the subject matter of which is devoted substantially to the responsibilities, programs, or operations of the agency of the public servant and in which the public servant has participated.
La. R.S. 42:1111C(2)(d): No public servant and no legal entity in which the public servant exercises control or owns an interest in excess of twenty-five percent, shall receive any thing of economic value for or in consideration of services rendered, or to be rendered, to or for any person during his public service unless such services are: (d) Neither performed for nor compensated by any person or from any officer, director, agent, or employee of such person, if such public servant knows or reasonably should know that such person has or is seeking to obtain contractual or other business or financial relationships with the public servant's agency; conducts operations or activities which are regulated by the public employee's agency; or has substantial economic interests which may be substantially affected by the performance or nonperformance of the public employee's official duty.
La. R.S. 42:1113A(1)(a): No public servant…or legal entity in which he has a controlling interest shall bid on or enter into any contract, subcontract, or other transaction that is under the supervision or jurisdiction of the agency of such public servant.
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Adopt the proposed advisory opinion.
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| Assigned Attorney: |
Jessica Meiners |
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